The House Of The Scorpion Character Analysis

Final Essay - The House of The Scorpion - 10/20/2015

In The House of The Scorpion, Matt a clone of the twisted and rich El Patron was completely unaware of his reason of existence, to become spare parts. Matt is constantly asking questions about his and others existence. These questions helped guide him on his life’s journey, inform us about his character, and they helped him discover the true hero inside of him.

Matt’s tendency to ask questions and his actual questions have helped to guide him throughout his very unfortunate childhood. These questions fueled him to escape Opium and to finally set things right. After saving Celia, Matt’s mother-like figure who was forced to pretend to be an eejit to stay alive. Thinking about Celia, Matt asks the question “Wasn’t acting like a zombie as bad as being one if you had to do it for years?” (250). Thinking about how much she was struggling made him ignore his own pain and continue to push through his escape away from Opium and to Aztlan. After merely escaping from Opium Matt continued to think about and deeply miss both Celia and Tam Lin. Yet to complete his journey Matt’s questions have and will continue guiding him on his life’s journey.

Matt’s questions allow the reader to understand his viewpoint and his lack of understanding about the world around him.

For example, when Tam Lin took Matt on a ride to the Oasis to have a picnic Matt saw a dead man on the road. Matt questions “Why hadn’t the man gone home when he got sick? Why hadn’t the other workers helped him? was he being left out there like a piece of trash?” (78) These questions of Matt’s help the reader understand his viewpoint on the enslaving and brainwashing of the people that are turned into eejits. Although Matt still has a lot to learn about the world around him, his urge to find answers will continue to expand his knowledge and

understanding.

Matt became a hero after escaping corrupt authority, questioning his purpose and overcoming positions of weakness. Matt first had to overcome a position of weakness during his painful childhood as a clone of El Patron. El Patron viewed Matt as an extended version of himself and planned to use him as the source for his new organs. With the help of Celia and Tam Lin, Matt was able to escape his fate of being “spare parts”. Matt barely made it to Aztlan, but he arrived without any belongings or money. In Aztlan nobody knew that he was a clone. Allowing him to finally be treated as a regular human. Forced to start from the bottom of society Matt became a slave in an orphanage that replicated a work camp. In this orphanage Matt was tortured and was expected to submit to the “Keepers”. At first Matt questioned his fate and didn’t know what his future held and if he would ever see Celia again. Knowing that Celia was in mortal danger the hero inside of Matt began to show as he escaped the orphanage and became the ruler of Opium. After overcoming starvation, abuse, and extreme prolongment for Celia, the hero inside of Matt showed for everyone to see.

Overcoming all weaknesses Matt was able to go from mere “spare parts” to the ruler of Opium. This huge transition is due to Matt’s bravery, tendency to ask questions, and the questions themselves. These very important questions have guided him through his life’s journey and shown us many aspects of his character. Matt’s bravery and heroism come from his view on the world and the questions that he asks about it.